Subaru's identity rests on three core values: Enjoyment, Peace of Mind and Trust.

These are the principles guiding the driving experience the brand delivers — and they extend equally to the way the company conceives work and its environments. Mobility, and by extension the workplace, is grounded in experience: engaging, reliable and capable of generating a sense of calm. This vision calls for spaces that are coherent and genuinely supportive of people in their daily routines, reinforcing company culture, wellbeing and a sense of belonging.

LOCATION

Milan

BUILDING

BIM Milano, Viale Piero e Alberto Pirelli 10

INDUSTRY

Automotive

The challenge: aligning identity and space 

The design brief for Subaru Italia’s new headquarters at BIM Milano was a genuine strategic undertaking: translating brand values into a physical space where they could be experienced, practised and shared. Subaru needed an environment capable of supporting different ways of working (focus, collaboration, informal exchange) while offering comfort and quality time throughout the working day. It had to express the company’s culture clearly, without relying on purely decorative solutions, and at the same time ensure orientation, order and legibility across a complex layout. The risk was twofold: a formally coherent environment with little impact on daily experience, or an “emotional” setting lacking structure and clarity.

An Emotion Based Working approach

Altis responded to this complexity by developing the project through the principles of Emotion Based Working — a design framework that places the cognitive, emotional and behavioural experience of people at its centre. The workplace is conceived as an ecosystem in which every spatial decision is guided by how people live, move through and use their environment across the working day. Each of Subaru’s founding values informed a distinct spatial language.

Enjoyment translates into a dynamic, stimulating space designed to encourage collaboration, the exchange of ideas and inclusivity. The layout integrates a plurality  of formal and informal settings: operational open spaces, meeting rooms, brainstorming areas, meeting booths and spontaneous gathering points. This variety accommodates different working styles, breaks daily routines and stimulates creativity and participation,  contributing to the workplace’s overall attractiveness and talent retention.


Peace of Mind shapes choices around comfort, wellbeing and the quality of time spent at work. The workplace promotes a balanced working style through comfortable environments, areas dedicated to socialising and rest, and a considered distribution of circulation flows. Warm materials, timber surfaces, textile flooring and a widespread presence of greenery combine to create a welcoming atmosphere, balancing more intimate, sheltered areas with structured operational zones.

Trust is reflected through  clearness, order and coherence. The project uses environmental branding and architectural design as functional tools. It informs, orients and reinforces corporate identity. The office becomes a three-dimensional expression of Subaru’s culture, where reliability, safety and responsibility take the form of legible, well-proportioned and consistent environments.

Spatial narrative and zoning

The layout is organised as a journey that guides both staff and visitors through Subaru’s experience, clearly distinguishing public and private areas. A continuous linear light element runs through the space, directing movement, visually connecting the different zones and reinforcing orientation. More than a design detail, it becomes an integral part of the spatial identity, making the environment recognisable and easy to read.